Cortland County Quitclaim Deed (Interspousal) Form

Both parties to this New York quitclaim deed are married to each other, and one of them signs. Section 1 names a single individual Grantor and states the marriage on the face of the deed; Section 2 names the Grantee, the spouse of that Grantor, as the only person taking under the instrument. This form prepares the interspousal version of the deed, also typed as a quit claim deed, for New York real property that moves from one spouse into the name of the other.

A release between spouses rather than a sale

The operative words come from the statutory short form of Real Property Law Section 258: the Grantor remises, releases, and quitclaims the estate, right, title, interest, claim, and demand held in the property. Nothing is promised about what that interest is, and Real Property Law Section 251 keeps it that way, providing that a covenant is not implied in a New York conveyance.

Title patterns here are the ones where the record already names one spouse: a parcel bought before the wedding, a house that arrived by inheritance or family gift, a vesting deed drawn in one name at closing, or a jointly held parcel from which one spouse releases that spouse's own interest.

What one signature reaches when spouses hold together

Where spouses hold as tenants by the entirety, the estate Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 6-2.2(b) creates by default on a conveyance to a married couple, New York case law fixes the limit of what one spouse acting alone can do: each holds an alienable interest, and neither can cut off the survivorship of the other. That limit reads differently when the grantee is the other tenant by the entirety rather than a stranger, because the interest released and the interest retained then appear in one name. The deed devotes a numbered section to the source of title for that reason, naming the instrument that created the current vesting.

The interspousal configuration

The form recites exactly one Grantor, an individual signing personally, and exactly one Grantee, described as the spouse of the Grantor. One signature block follows, then a single certificate written to conform substantially with the Section 309-a uniform acknowledgment of the Real Property Law, closing with the notary's printed name, commissioning state, and expiration date. New York law does not require a certificate for each signer, and one signer is what this deed presents. A deed signed by both spouses recites both of them as Grantors of the fee; a deed on which a spouse holding no record interest signs only to release carries a separate joinder section for that signature; an entity or fiduciary Grantor recites its capacity and the authority behind it. None of those is what this form carries.

Gift consideration and a mortgage that stays

Interspousal deeds are usually gifts, and Tax Law Section 1405(b) exempts a conveyance made without consideration and otherwise than in connection with a sale, including realty conveyed as a bona fide gift. Section 1404 still presumes a conveyance taxable, with the burden of proving otherwise on the party liable. A mortgage left in place changes the arithmetic: Section 1401(d) counts the amount of an encumbrance as consideration whether or not the debt is assumed, and Section 1402(a) excludes the value of a lien remaining at the time of conveyance on a one, two, or three family house or an individual residential condominium unit, and where consideration is under five hundred thousand dollars.

Recording the finished release

Once signed and acknowledged, the deed is presented for recording where the land records sit: the county clerk's office outside New York City, and the City Register through ACRIS in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. The joint TP-584 return travels with it, due whether or not any tax is owed, together with the RP-5217 transfer report on legal size paper and its filing fee. Recording promptly matters between spouses too, since Real Property Law Section 291 gives priority to the purchaser who reaches the record first.

Three items make up the download: the interspousal quitclaim deed as a blank fillable PDF, a completed example prepared for an Albany County transfer between spouses, and a plain language guide covering the eleven numbered sections, the certificate, and the recording package. These materials are informational and are not legal advice. How a release between spouses lands on a particular title, and what it leaves untouched, are questions for a New York attorney.